Best Laid Plans
by cutecrazyice
Summary: Sequel to 13 Tips, 24 Hours. Three years later, they meet again. It's sparks. It's animosity. It's confusion. But what happened in the cave, stays in the cave...right? GaaSaku
1. Plan 1

**_Best Laid Plans_**

(when dealing with the Kazekage of Suna)

**Plan 1:**

_Don't meet up again. Ever._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It should have been an easy mission. Go to the Mist Village, do a little spying, and return back home with a few scrolls containing the information wanted tucked under her belt. It was a B-class mission, not something that could be considered a matter of life and death—but important enough to not degrade any kunoichi who wanted to prove herself to be one of the best. Hell, she was one of the best—a B-class mission was more like a vacation, and something that she should be enjoying with a lazy manner, as if she had all the time in the world.

Translation: piece of cake.

It turns out she was proving to be very, very wrong.

"Shit. Damn it. Curse it all to hell—_shit!_"

Haruno Sakura wasn't the kind of person who said bad words (in fact, she _loathed _it when people said bad words too much), but at the moment, it really couldn't be helped—not with the awkward situation she had suddenly gotten herself stuck in. Okay, so she really didn't get herself stuck in it, because when you think about it, it wasn't really her fault.

Okay...so _maybe _it was partly her fault.

It was just that the waterfalls had been so nice. So tempting.

And she hadn't taken a bath in _four_ freaking days.

So what if she had closed her eyes while taking a dip in it, buck-naked? So what if she had delighted in the feel of the soothing water on her dirt-drenched skin? So what if she had shut off all her senses, just for that small amount of time?

Really...how could any girl resist?

_Well, duh! You should have resisted! Now we're being chased by some morons because of your stupidity!_

"Shut up, Inner freak," Sakura mumbled under her breath.

Her inner merely insulted her back, with a torrent of not-so-nice words.

The worst thing was, it couldn't be denied—her inner was absolutely _right._

Darn. It. All.

_Whizz!_

A kunai hissed by in the air. Sakura expertly dodged it, by back-flipping from one branch to another, not breaking her stride. It was a bit difficult, considering how wet and slippery she was, and how every time she tried to move, branches cut all over her bare skin. After all, she had only gotten time to wear her underwear, before taking off—and taking the scrolls with her. No weapons, except one measly kunai. She didn't even have time to give them her ever-reliable chakra-enhanced punch, because they were stealthy enough to not even come too close, or touch their feet on the ground.

And now, they were coming after her.

Like a bunch of predators, out to get their prey.

She _hated_ being the victim in such a scenario.

_Cha! We will not surrender!_

More kunais hissed in the air, coming from different angles. Sakura glared in the direction they came from, and went on again to flip and dodge them. How many were even after her? Were they ninjas, or just plain bandits? They must be ninja, because she knew she was fast—a normal civilian would have had a hard time catching up by now. But they were catching on, and too fast at that, and it was only a matter of time before they finally caught up, and—

_Crack._

She should have really been watching where she was going.

In an instant, the branch she had landed on exploded. Mostly, it seemed, because of the tag attached on a kunai embedded in it—a tag that she had only seen when it was already too late. Before she could dodge, or mutter curses some more, flying splinters were everywhere. Fire was, too. She found herself falling down on the ground, unable to catch momentum.

_Crack._

And then there was a loud, sickening crunch.

Oh, _hell._

Her foot was now at an awkward angle underneath her, and her other ankle twisted in a rather weird way at her side. Her shoulder was splayed on the ground, her fingers crushed under her hips. She hissed. The scrolls were scattered beside her, and the kunai had been lost from her grip—it was now lying about three meters away, out of reach.

She couldn't move.

And dear Kami, it was _painful._

Before she shift, or try to assess her situation (because so far, all she could assess were her sort of broken lower limbs and dislocated fingers), movements were heard from somewhere behind her.

"Well, lookie here. It seems we have finally caught on."

Suddenly, man after man started landing all over her.

There were around five of them, all wearing black clothes, and carrying weapons varying form kunais to shuriken to swords. They were all muscled men, fit to the point that she had no doubt now that they were indeed ninja—Mist ninjas, or rebels, it might seem. Though she wasn't quite sure. They looked ready, and strong.

And they were mostly leering at her.

Inner Sakura bristled.

"Hey, Aki, don't you find this such a pretty sight?" a man with greasy brown hair commented, eyeing her up and down with something akin to hunger and lust in his gaze. Sakura merely glared at him, her hands clutching fiercely on the scrolls by her side.

The one named Aki, a man with long blond hair tied up in a ponytail, raised an eyebrow and smirked. His tongue came out to lick his lips. "Yeah," he said huskily.

Another man (the one who was looking at somewhere between her two exposed thighs), stepped closer. "So, boss...can I have a piece of her?"

_No, you cannot, moron!_

"No, you cannot, moron!" Sakura yelled out, shifting her glare to the disgusting man. Cursing inwardly at the pain (because it really was too painful, and it was radiating _everywhere_), she slowly stood up, as much as she could with the dislocated bones protesting. She stood straight, her posture stiff, her breathing ragged, her expression defiant. "So shove off before I kill you all!"

Some of the men in the group laughed at this.

"Wow, feisty. I like it when they're feisty," a black-haired man grinned lecherously. He was the one with a jagged scar on his ugly face, running from his jaw, up to his forehead. "Makes it easier to...break them. You know...make them scream your name." He stepped closer, gaze smoldering. "And trust me, little girl...you're going to scream my name."

He had whispered the words like a dark caress.

She couldn't stop the shiver from traveling through her body.

They were closing in on her now, steadily moving closer while she stood there immobile, and basically _useless._ Still determined, Sakura tried to conspicuously heal her broken fingers with some chakra from her other hand.

_Whizz._

She dodged, and, because she was not as coordinated as she liked to be at the moment, fell down again, as a set of shuriken was eased her way. One grazed her shoulder—another hit her directly in her right thigh.

She hissed in pain, and growled at them angrily.

"Tsk, tsk...can't let you be doing that," one of them said, shaking his head in mock amusement. "It would spoil the fun."

Darn it.

She was so screwed.

"Kunoichi, hand over the scrolls. Now."

Bu Sakura was not one for giving up. Ever.

"Over my dead body," she snarled form her spot on the forest floor.

"Your ravished, touched body, eh? Okay."

"You wish, you ugly pig," she hissed, trying to stand up again. Unfortunately, her feet wouldn't support her anymore—much to her annoyance, the only thing she managed was stumble back on her rump, and look like a complete, blundering idiot.

And only dislocate her foot all the more.

Inner Sakura was now torn between wailing like a baby and shouting curses at the top of her lungs.

Outer Sakura remained silent, and tried to use chakra again.

But they were too fast.

In an instant, before she could evade, one of the men was suddenly holding on to her okay hand. In an instant, he was suddenly twisting it broken. She tried not to cry out, and instead grit her teeth, as she sent one more infusion of chakra into her awkwardly-positioned fist.

BAM!

She sent the cocky shinobi through the air and into unconsciousness, before cradling her wrist and trying not to scream from the pain.

"You stupid bitch! You will pay for that!"

Sakura tried to stand up again, and defend herself—this time, she managed to hobble on one leg.

She glared, as another man came for her, with a readied fist and a gleeful, sadistically twisted face.

She knew she wasn't going to make it this time.

_I still have to make babies! I want to get married! _Inner Sakura screamed like a lunatic.

Outer Sakura readied her stance.

Grit her teeth.

Prepared to counter the fist, even if it meant the last one she would ever counter in her life.

The fist never came.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"_I sense some chakra nearby," a lazy voice drawled out._

"_Friendly?" another voice answered._

_A shrug. "Don't know."_

"_Let's take a look."_

"_It's not our problem."_

_A boink in the head._

"_Someone could be in trouble!" a feminine voice hissed. Fiery eyes glared._

"_Che. Troublesome women," the lazy voice grumbled, rubbing his head with a sigh._

"_Lazy ass," the feminine voice grumbled back, still glaring._

"_Hey guys, shut your traps," another male voice commented._

_Another boink, in another head._

"_Oww! It's true! You're all so _loud!_" the male voice commented again. Loudly._

_Throughout this whole conversation, one man remained silent, and sensing._

_That is, until the last moment._

_When the flare of chakra caught his instincts, and his attention._

"_Haruno."_

"_What?" the lazy voice became lazy no more._

"_Let's go."_

"_But Ka—"_

_But the sentence was left hanging in the air, as the fifth in the group disappeared._

_A sigh._

_Quickly, the others followed._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura stared.

And stared.

And yes...stared some more.

She couldn't help it. One minute, she had been about to look death in the face, what's with the shinobi surrounding her, all ready to attack. All ready to ravish.

All ready to kill.

And now...the situation had changed.

Completely.

There was a fan manipulating some strong amounts of air—slicing the air around, to be more precise. There were shadows here and there. Senbon flying everywhere.

Puppets.

...sand.

Sakura's stare became a huge, awed gape, as, in a matter of seconds, the four enemy shinobi lay sprawled on the floor, in rather awkward positions.

Unconscious.

And, surrounding the forest...were none other than Temari, Shikamaru, Genma.

Kankuro.

Yes, there were only four of them, from where she was standing (not that she was really standing to begin with).

But wait...sand?

She didn't really get to analyze further, or think things through, because Temari was eyeing her rather suspiciously. Slowly, the blond girl raised her fan in the air, in a semi-threatening manner.

"That's not Haruno," she said.

Shikamaru eyed Sakura with a sigh. "Yeah. But she's injured."

Temari scoffed. "Well-deduced, lazy ass. But that's _not_ Haruno."

Kankuro rolled his eyes, grinning. "We _know, _Temari. We're not exactly blind. Can't you see? She doesn't have freaky pink hair."

It was only then that Sakura realized that yes—she _didn't_ have pink hair at the moment. Because she was on an undercover spying mission, she had opted to dye her hair a dark shade of brown, temporarily. Her green eyes, too, had been replaced by plain brown contacts. No wonder they didn't recognize who she was.

But wait..._freaky?_

"Pink hair is not freaky!" Sakura yelled all of a sudden, glaring at Kankuro. Kankuro appeared startled, and dropped his grin at once. Temari stared. Genma stared.

Shikamaru merely blinked.

"Kami goodness...Sakura?!" Temari asked in astonishment.

This time, it was Sakura's turn to become startled. "How did you know it's me?"

Among the four, Genma was the first to recover. He stepped forward. Grinned. Eyed her up and down, with a twinkle in his brown eyes.

It was only then that Sakura remembered she was still in her underwear.

Wet.

...and standing in a rather revealing position.

She blushed furiously, and tried to glare at the senbon-wielding man.

"My, my, Sakura—I didn't know you had all those...curves hidden underneath all your clothes."

"Shut up, senbon freak," Sakura snapped. The guy was a harmless flirt, she knew that...but while she was in her underwear? In pain?

She was _not_ in the mood for all this nonsense.

Shikamaru sighed again, eyeing the forest leaves in interest (she had a feeling it was because he was trying not to be like Genma). "You're Sakura, alright. Your voice. And as far as I know, only Sakura calls him senbon freak."

"I am not a senbon freak," Genma intoned in amusement, "but if it rocks your boat..."

"Oi!" Kankuro yelled. "Stop flirting with her! She's hurt!"

Well, duh.

Sakura glared at all of them (except Temari, who was pretty much the only one she knew who could understand the embarrassment she was in right now), and once again, tried to walk. The pain intensified—causing her to wobble, and stumble a bit...well, okay, stumble a _lot._ She went down on her rump again.

"Well, what are you guys waiting for? Some miracle?" she snapped in irritation. "Help me, please."

Genma grinned, and prepared to step forward. "Sure."

"_Not _you," Sakura emphasized. "Or Kankuro. Or Shikamaru. What are you guys doing here, anyway?"

"Escort mission," Shikamaru replied. "You?"

"Spying."

"Sakura...who do you want to carry you, if not us?" Kankuro asked in confusion.

Sakura blatantly stared straight at Temari, who was looking at her with something akin to concern and...wait, was that caution?

She glared at the blond. "Who are you guys escorting? And Temari, would you _please_ be kind enough to remove that stupid suspicious look off your face because I _really_ am Sakura and I want nothing more than to have you _please_ carry me because—"

"I'll carry her."

Sakura's mouth snapped instantly shut.

No...it wasn't Temari who had spoken.

Nor Kankuro. Nor Shikamaru.

...nor Genma.

Suddenly, warm hands came from behind, and lifted her up from under her knees—careful not to touch her broken limbs in the process. She was suddenly engulfed in a clothed chest. Suddenly carried bridal-style. Suddenly...supported. She tilted her head. Looked.

And suddenly found herself staring into green eyes that she hadn't seen in years.

Three years, to be exact.

She froze.

"And they were escorting me, Haruno."

Gaara's voice was still exactly, absolutely the same.

And his eyes. And his hair.

...and his stare.

_Cha! He's grown sexy! He's so hot! Cha!_

Sakura stared at him, dumbfounded.

"To—to where?" she mumbled out.

A pause.

"To Konoha," he replied. Calmly.

...oh, dear Kami.

She should have known the sand meant something.

As her vision blurred further, and darkness tried to overtake her, Sakura's last thoughts were only three.

She was being carried by none other than the Kazekage in her _underwear._

Inner Sakura was screaming like a fangirl.

...and this was _not_ going to be good.

At all.

She was _sure_ of it.

She promptly lost consciousness afterwards.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**Plan Status: **_Failed._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_**a/n: **Well, here it is...the sequel! There will be less than ten chapters, I think, and this is just the intro chapter. I'm gonna be writing this one along with "Slave Driver", because these two have received the most votes in the poll. I posted this first, because I finished this first. I'm still writing "Slave Driver", which will be posted in a few days. Wish me luck._

_So...what do you think so far? Continue? Happy reading, guys...and hope you review! :)_


	2. Plan 2

_**Best Laid Plans**_

(when dealing with the Kazekage of Suna)

**Plan 2:**

_Avoid him like the plague. Seriously._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When she finally woke up, and opened her eyes, the first sight she was greeted with were bright blue orbs focused on her own.

And accompanying the orbs, was a very loud, very familiar voice.

"Sakura-chan! You're alright!"

Sakura felt the blur moving—then, before she knew it, her air supply was cut off, as a rather bright orange _thing_ piled up on her, warm and giddy and practically bursting with energy.

There was only one person who could have that much energy, in her opinion.

"You finally woke up! It is so good to see you! Wanna have ramen? Let's have ramen! It will be good for your health and—OWW! TEMARI-CHAN!"

"Let her breathe, you idiot," a female voice reprimanded, in a slightly sharp tone. At the sound, Sakura immediately disentangled herself from Naruto, and with widened green eyes, turned to look at the direction where the voice was coming from.

Yup. It was Temari, alright—all cleaned and freshened up, and wearing a kimono very different from the ninja outfit she had on earlier. On her right stood Kankuro, with no make-up on his face (and no puppets in sight). On her left sat Shikamaru, on the only chair available, looking very, very bored. Beside Shikamaru stood Genma, a smirk on his face and a pleased sparkle on his brown eyes.

No one else was in the room, other than them.

"You okay, Sakura?" Kankuro asked, putting up a smile on his face. Sakura smiled back tentatively.

"Er—I guess so," she replied. "I...how long was I out?"

"Just a few hours or so!" Naruto exclaimed, almost excitedly. "You're very lucky these guys came across you and your scrolls—I was very worried when they carried you back here unconscious! And then Baa-chan healed you, and then gave you a sleeping herb thingy to make you rest, and then—"

"Oi, Naruto...stop being troublesome," Shikamaru's lazy voice called out. He yawned good-heartedly, and stretched his hands in the air. Naruto pouted—but instead of reacting, he simply folded his arms and huffed. "Well, I'm glad you're okay now, Sakura," Shikamaru continued. "We just came by to make sure. We're going now."

Temari raised an eyebrow again. "We are?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Remember? We're supposed to guard the Kazekage."

_The Kazekage._

_The Kazekage._

_The Kaze—_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Temari again. "Oh, yeah. Guard my brother. Right. Forgot." Temari grinned.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

Temari glared. "I am _not _troublesome."

"Che. Whatever. Let's go."

Kankuro gave Sakura another smile—this time, Sakura's smile went brighter. Temari waved. Shikamaru started to stand up.

"Hey, guys, I'm staying for a while." It was Genma.

The lazy genius paused. "...why?"

Genma grinned. "To spend time with the sexy blossom."

Sakura stared at Genma in exasperation. The senbon-wielding ninja merely smirked again, and gave her a rather sexy stare. Sakura's eyes narrowed.

Naruto's eyes narrowed along with hers.

"You perverted senbon dude—why are you staring at Sakura-chan like that?! You are not allowed to stare at her like that! I am not allowing you—"

"Dobe, shut up."

At the sound of the rather familiar voice, Sakura's head swiveled (along with everybody else's) to the door as it opened silently—and in came none other than Sasuke, hands on his pockets. Trailing after him was Sai, a pleasant smile on his face. After Sai came Kakashi, eyes on his orange book and as slouched as ever.

"Good morning, Ugly," Sai greeted warmly—or at least in his own version of warm.

Sakura smiled. "Hi, equally Ugly," she retaliated softly.

The raven-haired Uchiha merely gave Genma a warning stare, along with the silver-haired Copy-nin (who had, for a moment, pried his eyes off his precious book). Genma immediately backed off, and gave everyone an easy salute.

"On the other hand, I think I have a few errands to do," he said lightly, still grinning. He gave Sakura a wink. "See you later, honey."

And he was out the door, before anyone could glare at him.

Sasuke turned back to brooding. Kakashi turned back to beaming (beneath the mask, of course).

"Yo!" The patented eye crinkle came, before he leaned on his perch somewhere near the window—and continued reading.

Temari scowled at the book's front cover in disapproval.

Sakura sighed.

Really—having them all together here was quite touching, because it just showed how concerned they were of her condition—not that she wasn't fine or anything. Of course she was. She was already fine, and healthy, and dandy.

And she was not gonna ask. No.

_Don't ask._

_Don't ask._

_Don't—_

"Who carried me to Konoha?" she blurted out.

Naruto beamed. "Why, Gaara, of course! The weird bastard rescued you!"

"You do realize you just called our brother _weird,_" Temari commented, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, he is!" Naruto yelled.

Kankuro scoffed. "Oh, puh-lease—Gaara _didn't_ rescue Sakura. The _whole_ team did. Try getting that straight, moron."

"Hey! Why are you calling me mo—"

"Tone your voice down, dickless."

"I am the future Hoka—WAIT, WHAT?! WHO ARE YOU CALLING DICKLESS, YOU DICKLE—"

The door opened wide again—this time, loudly.

"WHAT IS WITH ALL THIS NOISE?! EVERYBODY, OUT!"

It was Tsunade—and she looked furious as hell.

"BUT BAA-CHAN!" Naruto whined. "DICKLESS JUST CALLED ME—"

"OUT!!"

Scoffing slightly, Sasuke gave a slight nod to Sakura, before dragging the blond ramen-loving loudmouth by his ear out the door. He protested, of course—but one vicious glare from the honey-brown eyes of the Hokage herself was enough to have him shutting his mouth quickly, and simply muttering under his breath about old, moody people and their penchant for yelling. One by one, the others began filing out as well, Kakashi being the last. He gave Sakura another eye crinkle and a wave, before closing the door with a quiet click.

Sighing in irritation, the Hokage finally turned her attention to her pink-haired apprentice.

"You," Tsunade emphasized, pointing firmly, "Are one lucky girl."

Sakura sighed back, albeit wearily. "Yes. I suppose I am. Thank you for healing me, shishou."

The blond woman nodded, and stared at her quietly for a moment, scrutinizing. Then she narrowed her eyes.

"Sakura?"

"Yes, shishou?"

"...why exactly were you in your underwear?"

Right. And here she had _hoped _that would not be brought up. At all.

Sakura began to blush furiously, as she averted her gaze.

"Er—long story."

Tsunade merely kept on narrowing her eyes.

Sakura blushed harder.

"It was the waterfalls' fault, shishou," she muttered in defense.

At her words, Tsunade heaved a quiet sigh of relief. Sakura's eyes immediately widened, as she realized just what her mentor had been thinking.

"Shishou! No! Of course those enemy shinobi didn't undress me or anything! You know I will protect my honor no matter what!"

Suddenly, a thought started bombarding her mind—one that was filled with images of a dark cave, her against a wall, hands touching her everywhere, mouth against her own, groans and moans mixed up together in ecstacy, and jade eyes and red, red hair—

"Well, that's a relief, Sakura."

Sakura immediately snapped out of her thoughts, and flushed nearly violet now. She inwardly cursed herself, knowing her Inner was having a nosebleed at the simple image. Determined, she shut the image away.

Tsunade was still speaking.

"I know you weren't raped, based on the tests I've conducted, but you could still have been sexually assaulted, and I _won't _stand for that."

"I wasn't, shishou," Sakura assured.

Tsunade nodded. "Alright." She came over closer to Sakura, and put a hand on her forehead, then various parts of her body. She nodded again. "You seem okay enough. Get some sleep now. I still have to attend some meetings with the village elders and some guests. I'll check up on you again later, and make sure you're stable before I release you."

Sakura growled. "I'll be _fine,_ shishou. Shoo. Go now."

"Brat," Tsunade said, without heat. The Hokage grinned, before heading towards the door. Sakura waved, and smiled, until she heard the door shut once more.

Then she closed her eyes.

Oh, she had a pretty good idea who the guests were going to be.

Particularly _one_ guest.

And as Sakura fell asleep, she vowed to do two things, the moment she was released from the hospital.

First, write a thank-you note to Gaa—er, the Kazekage himself. For carrying her back home.

And second...avoid him as much as the possible.

Like the plague.

It would be easy, really.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

She should have known it wouldn't be easy.

She should have _known._

"You want me to what?" Sakura blurted out, staring at her mentor with wide, wide eyes, and nothing but surprise and incredulity and _disbelief_ on her expression.

Inner Sakura was doing cartwheels all over.

Outer Sakura was still gaping.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Tsunade asked, raising a very distinct eyebrow.

"Er...yes."

"Well, then, close that mouth of yours before it catches flies," Tsunade intoned with a frown. Sakura snapped her gaping mouth shut instantly. "And stop asking silly questions and do as I say—I'm very busy right now, and I don't want to be bothered."

Inner Sakura was squealing like a drooling, lovesick maniac.

Outer Sakura was still staring.

"But—"

Her sentence was cut off, as the Hokage glared. Sakura practically deflated—when Tsunade had that look on her face, it was a given _not_ to mess with her. Ever.

"Fine," Sakura mumbled. Then, sullenly, she bowed to her mentor, and trudged outside the office as slowly as she could.

It wasn't a surprise that the moment she was out, the first sight she saw (because she was looking at the floor, really) was...sand.

Trails after trails of sand.

Her head snapped up reluctantly—then her green eyes widened, as she found herself staring at jade eyes inches away from her own.

Very, very close.

She very nearly squeaked—but at the last minute, she managed to compose herself, and backed away as calmly as she could, without flushing.

He remained staring.

"Uh—Gaara," she said, a bit nervously. "...hi."

He kept on staring.

Sakura shifted her foot, and averted her eyes a bit. "So...did you get my note yesterday?"

Silence.

Okay, this whole staring thing was starting to get a little bit irritating. Sighing, Sakura steeled herself, and looked into his eyes again. To her horror, she began babbling. "Well, if you didn't, then let me just say thank you, for carrying me all the way to Konoha. I met up with Temari twice yesterday, and she told me that you covered me up with your cloak while I was improperly dressed, and you took the time to bring me to the hospital when you should have gone straight to the meeting, and you—"

"Sakura."

His voice was like...dusk. Dark and husky and full of myterious promises.

Inner Sakura was practically goading her to go jump him...now.

Outer Sakura took another small step back, as her stomach churned weirdly.

"Um...yeah?" she muttered.

Gaara stared at her for a while again. Then he nodded his head.

"You're welcome," he said.

Then he was trudging off, in his calm demeanor, out of the tower, and into the streets. She was so startled, it took her a moment to react. When she did, Sakura ran to catch up, her expression now of irritation.

"Hey!"

Gaara didn't pause. Sakura's irritation increased.

"HE—"

Because she was running and _not_ looking where she was going (because she was too busy looking at the back of his head), she didn't see the puddle just outside the tower's front door—a puddle of mud made by the rain last night. Before she knew what was happening, she was suddenly slipping—facedown.

Oh, Kami. Why did embarrassing things _always _happen to her?

Cursing her carelessness and her stupidity, Sakura tried to grab hold of whatever she could, for balance. There was none. She pushed her hands in front, palms out to lessen the impact, as she was falling, falling...

She stopped falling.

And she found herself, once again, staring into...jade eyes.

And a nose touching her own.

And lips very near.

Beautiful, nice, kissable—

"You're clumsy."

She was immediately released, and straightened up. Sakura glared. "I am _not! _If you would have stopped, I wouldn't have—"

"And you still have a temper."

A vein in her forehead ticked. Okay.

Did she just actually think he was _kissable?_ She was changing her mind now.

He was nothing but an arrogant prick.

"Shut up! And come with me!" she snarled.

Gaara began staring at her again. "Where?"

"To the hospital! For a check-up!"

"Why?"

"Because the Hokage ordered it—and if you don't come with me, I swear I will hunt you down!"

And she stalked off in the direction of the hospital, completely unafraid of the fact that she was yelling at the Kazekage of Suna, and one of the most powerful shinobi in the lands. At the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Kankuro with Kiba—and they were both somewhat gaping in shock at the scene. She ignored them, of course. Just as much as she ignored the man who was now following her from behind, silently.

Stupid medical orders.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

No, it wasn't easy.

It wasn't easy to avoid and ignore anything that was happening right now, because really—how could you ignore it if a very muscled, very composed, very _silent_ man was standing by the examination table, right in front of you?

Trying not to stare, Sakura cleared her throat. She had already done all the procedures, without much hassle—except one.

"I need you to spread your legs."

_Yes, spread your legs and let me jump yo—_

"Why?"

She sighed. It couldn't be helped that her mood was somewhere between rapidly deteriorating and plainly still-embarrassed. "Because I am the medic, and those are the medic's orders."

"...you might murder me, for all I know."

"I am not going to murder you!" she hissed, trying very hard not to glare. "I am just going to touch you...erm, there!"

_Yes, and I am excited! I have a feeling you're going to be big and—_

"Where?"

She flushed instantly, as Inner Sakura began bombarding her with description after description and image after image. Trying desperately to get herself together and act as cool and as professional as possible (because darn it, she _was_ a professional!), she inserted her gloves, lubricating them quickly, and gave him the most commanding look she could muster.

He merely looked back, folding his arms (and unconsciously flexing his muscles all the more) as he did so.

She made a very irritated sound in her throat.

"Just...there. Just let me do my job, okay? Then this will all be over, and you can do whatever the hell you like. Now—turn around, spread your feet, and bend over a little bit backwards."

He frowned. "I don't like being ordered."

"For the _last time_," she said through gritted teeth. "turn around, spread your feet, and bend—"

He did as she asked. Reluctantly.

Sakura took a moment to stare at his really firm behind, before realizing what she was doing and snapping her head back to look _anywhere_ but there.

Her face was very, very red now.

"Now...I—take off your pants," she practically whispered.

He froze.

"What?"

She blushed harder. "For the examination, Gaara. I need to check your...prostate gland."

"My what?"

"Your prostate gland. The organ that produces some parts of the...erm, semen in your body."

"..."

"...just take off your pants, okay? I won't kill you."

He didn't move for around a minute or so.

Then slowly...he took off his pants, leaving him clad only in black boxers. He put both his hands on the exam table, and remained very, very silent.

Inner Sakura's mouth was already foaming with lust.

Swallowing, Sakura took a step forward, gloves ready. Slowly, she inserted her hand inside his boxers, and did the examination as gently and as efficiently and as quietly as possible. She kept her gaze fixed at a spot on his shoulder, refusing to look anywhere _at all_.

It couldn't be helped, however, that when she was about to finish said examination and remove her hand from its spot, said hand managed to brush...it. As if instantly reacting, it twitched.

Became hard.

...pulsed.

She froze, and didn't move.

Shocked beyond belief, her eyes went up—right into his face. He was looking at the side, his eyes closed. To her horror, she heard him growl low in his throat—and to her double horror, she felt something like an ache grow within her belly, threatening to move down, down where—

"What are you doing?" he murmured, softly.

"I—you—" She couldn't form coherent sentences.

His eyes snapped open, and bored into hers.

They were filled with something that was very, very familiar.

"Sakura?" He was gripping the table with all his might now.

Sakura did the only thing she could, at the moment. She removed her hand, quickly. Threw off her gloves.

Then she squeaked.

"I—goodbye! Exam's done!"

And ran away as fast as she could.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**Plan Status: **_Failed._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_**a/n: **__Oh, my. Didn't know what came over me writing this weird second chapter, but I have to say, I had fun. Hehe. Especially with Sakura getting into such weird situations. She's pretty crazy, I know. But, well, I guess that's Sakura. :)_

_Guys, I wanna say thank you for the very warm reception and reviews given on the first chapter of this sequel. Wow. It really means a lot to me, you know. You're all awesome!_

_More GaaSaku moments soon. Hope you like this one. Happy reading. Review if you can. :)_


	3. Plan 3

_**Best Laid Plans**_

(when dealing with the Kazekage of Suna)

**Plan 3:**

_Don't be swooned by kisses. You moron._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

He was following her.

He was masking his chakra well, that if she had been an ordinary kunoichi, she would not have detected it right away.

However, she _wasn't_ an ordinary kunoichi.

She was the apprentice of the Hokage, and the former student of the ever infamous Copy nin—two people who are practically up _there_ when it came to excellence, precision...and looking underneath the underneath. It didn't take long for her to figure out that from the moment she had stepped out of her apartment, and had gone to the hospital, and had stepped out once more (hours later, when it was time to go)...he had been following her. Hiding himself, and his chakra, as he did so.

And it was seriously starting to piss her off.

_Oh, come off it! You're flattered!_

No, she wasn't. She was _pissed off_.

Really.

Sakura usually had lots of patience with stalkers—if she didn't, she would have punched Lee to the ground by now, Kami bless his soul. She would have probably killed Naruto already—because while he hadn't been a stalker once upon a time (in the dim, dark past), he had definitely been edging to that term, what's with all his date-asking and kiss-asking. She had patience, because she knew patience was a virtue—and being a kunoichi, virtues were pretty much something that were so hard to come by, and should always, _always _not be taken for granted.

But what was the point of patience, really, when you simply were in no mood?

She was tired. She was hungry. She was sleepy—heck, she was practically asleep on her feet right now.

And she really, _really_ hated stalkers.

And stupid, stupid guys.

Inwardly snarling, Sakura continued walking towards her home, all the while thinking up ways of catching him off guard. No way was she going to let him think he had the upper hand—seriously...did the guy really think he could get away with it?

He was kidding himself.

And she was a bit disappointed, really.

Who'd have thought the great Kazekage of Suna, and top shinobi of the land...would be _this_ easy to detect?

_But you're flattered! FLATTERED!_

She was _not._

No. Freaking. Way.

Mentally driving Inner Sakura to shut the hell up, and into hiding, Sakura slowed down her steps, making sure she did it as casually as possible. Subtly, she did a few quick hand seals, until the Sakura standing in the street became a sub, and the real Sakura ended up hiding atop a branch on a nearby foliage of trees.

The sub Sakura turned a corner, quietly disappearing into an alley.

She waited.

Waited.

Waited.

And then...there it was. A small, barely-there spike of chakra from somewhere to her right_—_right behind a thick array of bushes.

_Kya! Jump him now! And don't forget to touch that big, big thingy of his so it will pulse again and—_

Flushing at the thought (and the very vivid memories, even if that was supposed to be _days_ ago), Sakura mentally pounded her inner into a pulp, and proceeded to do as planned. Adjusting her position, she crouched.

_Swoosh._

Then she pounced.

She smirked triumphantly, when she collided into something solid and warm, and heard a very surprised grunt. Using that element of surprise to her advantage, she promptly tackled the body until it was underneath her, and put her hands on the shoulders and the pressure points, to render immobility. The body did not move. She immediately made eye contact, ready to gloat, and to snarl, and to darn well let him see just what a great kunoichi she was, and that he could never, _ever_ fool her.

She ended up staring.

And staring.

...and staring.

Golden-brown eyes—not jade eyes! _Not jade eyes_!—stared back.

"Why, Sakura...If I knew you wanted to be this kinky, all you had to do was...ask."

Oh. My. Kami.

Sakura blushed in downright mortification.

Genma smirked in absolute mischief.

"And here I was, just wanting to ask you on a date and all...and now it seems you want to get down and dirty. Alright, I'll take your offer. Why don't we—OWW! Babe!"

She did the only thing possible, when faced with such an embarrassing situation. Sakura promptly removed his hands from her butt.

Then she gave him a hard, hard jab. In the jaw.

She glared.

"I am not a babe! And you suck!"

A pause.

"...you do mean suck your ti—"

_Bam!  
_

_Bam bam bam!_

_KAPOW!_

Needless to say, the poor senbon-wielding ninja was going to be recuperating in the hospital after that.

For one whole week, give or take.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_"Sakura?"_

_A weary sigh._

_"What, Genma?"_

_"...can I still suck your—"_

_BAM!_

_"Sakura! The man is in medication! He's delirious! Have some pity!"_

_A grumble._

_"Sorry, Shizune."_

_"Sakura?"_

_Another weary sigh._

_"WHAT, Genma?"_

_"I would still like to suck your—"_

_KAPOW!_

_"Sakura!"_

_"Sorry!"_

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It was past midnight, and this time, it was darn serious—she really was _asleep_ on her feet now.

And it was all her freaking fault.

She just _had_ to be kind and take pity on the beat-up Genma, and just _had_ to take him to the hospital herself—and, since the hospital was a bit short-staffed, she just had to be the one to go and heal his injuries (the ones she had put there), while he flirted with her outrageously and tried to talk her into bed throughout the whole process. He was darn lucky she didn't beat him up again (well, alright—didn't beat him up for the _fourth_ time).

And right now, _she_ was darn lucky if she could make it to her bedroom without fainting at all.

Yawning, Sakura dragged her feet, all the while muttering curses under her breath. It was a relief to have Shizune finally take charge, letting her escape the guy and his ridiculous advances—because while it was sweet, in a way, it was also getting a bit annoying, and if she had stayed in that room a minute longer...well, let's just say a mighty beating-up was _not _the only thing he was going to get.

And it wasn't going to be hugs or kisses, either.

After some minutes of mindless walking, Sakura sighed out in relief when her apartment came into view. Finally. Ignoring her aching feet and sore muscles, she walked faster, taking her keys out, her eyes opening and closing. Quickly, she slid the keys in place, and prepared to turn it. So, so sleepy. There was nothing more she wanted now than to take off her shoes, and her clothes, and get under the blankets and—

"Why were you straddling him?"

—not hear that voice _again._

Her eyes snapped open.

In an instant, she was whipping around, her gaze wide, her keys forgotten, her mouth open. She nearly squeaked, when she realized just how close he was standing.

Not mere _inches._

It was safe to say that her sleepiness had vanished completely.

"I—you—what?"

He remained silent, and merely gazed at her with those really intense jade eyes of his. Blushing slightly, Sakura averted her own eyes—then, as the cloud of fatigue vanished from her brain completely, she began to realize exactly what he had just said.

Her eyes snapped back to him in shock.

Oh, dear hell_. _She was _right._

He had been following her all along.

"You!" she sputtered, green eyes blazing and pointing an accusing finger at him.

Silence.

Then...

"Me," he finally agreed.

She began to grow very annoyed.

"I was right! You were following me! Hah!" she yelled, waving her finger around triumphantly. Then, realizing what she was doing, and how she was sounding (triumphant, of all things!), Sakura put down said finger, and instead, put her hands on her hips, in a stance that was well-known to be defiant, and quite intimidating. She glared.

He merely stared back, folding his own arms.

She tried very, very hard not to get intimidated at the gaze, and instead, stand her ground and look every bit scary and—

_Scary? More like pathetic! Some kunoichi you are for not even noticing him following you!_

It wasn't her fault!

It wasn't!

It—

"Are you mating him?"

She squeaked.

"What??"

He kept on staring.

More annoyed now, Sakura tried another glare, making sure to up the intensity factor.

He kept on staring.

She really, _really_ wanted to throw her hands in the air now. Mostly in frustration.

She opted for turning around and ignoring him, and picking up her dropped keys, and reinserting them back on the doorknob's little hole.

She was about to turn it when he spoke again.

"Are you mati—"

Furious, she turned back to face him, and fire him with her very spicy choice of words.

"I am not, you bas—"

Her words stopped, when she realized that his eyes, and his face, and his body, seemed to be closer now—right inside her personal space. He was radiating heat, and closing in, and—

"You're not mating him?"

What was with his choice of words, anyway?

Gritting her teeth, Sakura turned back around to finally turn the key, and the knob, and open her front door.

"No," she replied shortly, yanking the door open and stomping in, intent on slamming said door as hard as she could (she didn't care that it was her door, and it was going to break, and in the end, _she_ was going to be the one who pays for it).

Immediately, sand came up, to stop the swinging door, before it could make any progress.

"Good."

Her mouth dropped open—then, promptly shut when without further ado, Gaara let himself in, shutting the door himself. He didn't look her way, but instead calmly went to where the couch was, to sit there. Still without looking, he began rolling up the sleeves of his robe.

She blinked out of her stupor, and resumed being indignant.

"What do you mean, _good?_ What the hell—and why are you just letting yourself in like you belong in this apartme—and darn it, could you please call your stupid sand off??" She glared at the sand (which was somewhat crawling lazily in her direction), for emphasis—then switched her glare to him.

He looked back.

"My sand is not stupid," he intoned.

"It _so _i—"

"I'm aching, Sakura."

She froze.

"W-what?"

"I'm aching."

_I'm aching, too. For you._

Her mind stuttered. Automatically, she found her eyes straying to the spot below his waist—the spot where just days ago, she found herself touching—

He held out his arm.

"Heal me."

She blinked. Then, to her utter horror...realized he was talking about _something else. _Not...that.

Oh, dear Kami.

She was such an idiot.

"W-what?"

As an answer, his sand merely crawled nearer, and hooked onto her legs, proceeding to drag her closer. She yelped and squeaked for a while, realizing that his sand was in fact really _warm_, before reluctantly allowing herself to be dragged, when she finally got a closer look to the arm he was holding out.

It was then she noticed that it was bleeding, with a long, deep gash on it.

"Where...what did you do to your arm??" she practically shrieked.

Gaara shrugged, and laid his head on the cushion. He closed his eyes. "Training."

"Oh."

Her anger was gone in an instant. She eyed his arm in a bit of worry, her medic mode coming into place. She bit her lip. Narrowed her eyes.

"If I heal your arm...will you leave me alone afterwards?" she asked, cautiously.

Silence.

After a moment, he finally opened his eyes, jade orbs pinning hers in contemplation.

"Yes."

_Aww, but Gaara-kun, I thought we were going to go tumble in bed and take care of that other aching—_

She snapped out of her thoughts (annoying, annoying thoughts!), and huffed to where he was. Without further ado, Sakura kneeled, and yanked his arm (none too gently), and, with a very firm set on her jaw, went to work.

Eventually, her jaw relaxed—as they always did whenever the healing was done, and her chakra was being used to soothe someone. She felt her strength beginning to wane again, and her drowsiness return back bit by bit. She tried not to yawn, and instead, concentrated on her glowing green hands, as it healed and stitched his wound in neat, systematic little patterns.

"Gaara?"

"..."

"Who cut you in training?"

"..."

"You can tell me," she mumbled sleepily, her voice assuring. "I won't laugh."

Silence.

Then...

"It was Naruto."

She brightened at this. "Awesome! He always did know how to beat you, huh?"

He glared.

"Gaara?"

"..."

"Gaara..."

"...what?"

"What do you mean by...erm, _good_?"

"Exactly what it meant."

She frowned. "That's not an answer."

"I already answered."

She scowled.

He didn't so much as blink.

Irritated again, Sakura glared. "Fine! Whatever! I don't care!" Sulking a bit now (seriously, this guy was _impossible_), she wrapped up her work, and instantly stood on her feet, and stomped away from him, and right into the front door.

She yanked it open (viciously), and put her hands (_once again_) on her hips.

"I believe we had an agreement," she snapped.

He stared.

Then he quietly stood up, and nodded.

"Hm."

"Now go away!" she ordered.

"Hm."

"Because a deal is a deal!" she practically yelled, her temper increasing with his short replies. Just because he was the leader of the Sand village, and the guest of _her_ village, and cute and—

She blinked. Scowled all the more.

He was _not_ cute.

_Yeah. Just hot and hunky and the best piece of ass we—_

Her scowl deepened, as she rudely shoved inner Sakura down to the ground. Oh, that stupid little inner was so going to get—

"Alright."

She blinked again, when she realized she was kind of spacing out (all the stupid inner's fault!). He was nodding again.

"Why were you even following me?" she demanded irritably. "What do you want?"

"This."

And that was all she got from him.

Because the next instant...there was no more room for words.

She was shocked to the core, when, one second, he was by the couch, and she was by the door—and the next, he was suddenly just inches away, and his body was suddenly radiating too much heat, and she could do nothing but squeak in absolute, fascinated surprise. He pinned her to the door.

Then he proceeded to thoroughly, uninhibitedly kiss her.

With lips and tongue and teeth.

...her mind pretty much blanked at this point.

_Oh, Kami...Gaara...you are sooo gooood..._

No, he wasn't.

...she wasn't a very good liar.

And it was really, really becoming blurry all of a sudden, with his mouth _all over_, his hands _all over_, and his body so, so sleek and hot and pressing against—wait, was that a moan coming out of her mouth?

She forgot and closed her eyes, and kept on making noises, when his one hand suddenly came up to cup her breast and knead it softly. When his mouth streaked down to nip her jaw, and suck a bit there. His other hand touched her waist, and her leg, and glided to her neck, and her collarbone, and—

It was over in an instant.

No more heat, no more caresses...no more mouth.

Dazed, she opened her eyes. He was standing right in front of her, his hands on her waist, his gaze penetrating, his mouth—

"You're delicious."

She _swore_ she nearly orgasmed right then and there.

"I—you—what?" she incoherently stuttered out.

He replied by simply moving his hands, in one more rubbing gesture. Moving his mouth, to nip her earlobe one more time.

Her hands gripped his hair with all her might.

"Goodnight, Sakura."

"But—"

"Go to sleep."

"But—"

Another thorough kiss.

She was going to _faint_ with the pleasure.

"Let's mate soon."

And then he was out the door, and the door was closing.

And she was alone in the living room, confused and bewildered and _irritated_ more than ever now.

Because her body was vibrating and her insides were squirming and _damn it all to hell_—she was so, _so_ aroused.

And this was all. His. Fault.

Inner Sakura was still moaning out in pleasure.

Outer Sakura stomped to her bedroom, muttering out obscenities as she did so.

She was _not_ going to mate him soon.

No freaking way.

No.

No.

NO.

...why wasn't she a very good liar?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**Plan Status: **_Failed._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_**a/n**: A little reminder: Sakura thinks she's patient. I don't (at least, not in this fic). Heh. Poor girl._

_P.S. Don't ask me where the sand came from (coz he did not have a gourd). It was just _there _(pretty convenient, eh?)._

_So, um...review? :)_


	4. Plan 4

_**Best Laid Plans**_

(when dealing with the Kazekage of Suna)

**Plan 4:**

_Don't get trapped again, anywhere. Together._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Kazekage-sama!"

The Kazekage of Sunagakure looked up, from where he was sitting on one of the entrance stools at Ichiraku, a bowl of miso ramen situated at his front on the counter. Beside him, were none other than Naruto, Genma, Kankuro, Temari and Lee.

They all turned to stare at the pink-haired kunoichi, who was standing in front of them with her chin up, her mouth set, her hands on her hips.

And her green eyes glaring very, very viciously.

Genma grinned, raking his eyes up and down her body—obviously loving the aura she was emitting.

Lee brightened at the simple sight of her.

"Sakura-chan! You look youthful today!"

Genma kept on grinning, despite the bandages still on his face (yes, he had managed to get out of the hospital, by some luck).

"Why, Sakura, you look—"

Instantly, the glare was on him.

"Shut up," she snapped. "Do you want me to put you in the hospital again?"

Effectively, the grin slid off the senbon wielder's mouth. He paled considerably, at the memory.

Temari eyed him in utter amusement. Kankuro raised a eyebrow.

Sakura ignored all this, and turned her attention back to her so-called target.

"It's _not_ going to happen," she hissed irritably.

Silence.

"It's not?" Gaara repeated, his tone normal (or as normal as his tone could ever be).

"No," she said firmly, glad he understood. She nearly beamed.

Silence.

"What's not going to happen?" he asked.

Her mouth dropped open, the beam vanishing. She closed it. Opened it. Closed it.

Opened it.

"Sakura," Kankuro said, in a very helpful voice, "You might want to...erm, close your mouth. You look like a fish gaping out of—oww! Temari!"

Temari merely raised an eyebrow at her oldest brother, appearing nonchalant. She turned her eyes back to Sakura, and smiled innocently.

Sakura promptly blushed, and went off her so-called trance.

"You know what I mean!" she blurted out, in frustration.

"I know?" he asked evenly.

"You do!" she insisted.

A pause.

"What do you mean...Sakura?"

She was now flushing a deep, deep shade of pink.

"I mean—_it!_" she snapped.

"...it?"

He was staring at her so, so intensely. Slowly, he licked his lips, in an innocent fashion.

Inner Sakura drooled once more, and became coated with ten tons of lust.

Outer Sakura merely stared.

"Y—yeah. I—it," she spurted out. Why was it hard to think all of a sudden?

"What is...it?" he murmured. He kept on gazing, mesmerizing jade eyes. Amazing eyes, boring into hers. Darkening.

"Ur..."

She lost her speech. Completely.

Silence.

Three seconds.

Five.

Then...

"Sakura-chan, do you mean sex??"

At the very loud screech, Genma and Kankuro choked on their food. Temari raised an eyebrow again, her lip twitching. Lee nearly fainted. Gaara remained stoic, remained staring at her, ignoring the others.

Sakura turned from pink to red, in a matter of seconds.

Seeing this, Naruto's already-wide eyes widened all the more, his orbs now practically bulging out of their sockets. In an instant, he was whipping his head towards the red-haired sand nin, in a movement that would have cricked anyone's neck.

Blue eyes glared daggers.

"ARE YOU FORCING SAKURA-CHAN TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU?!" he yelled loudly.

"...no."

The glare disappeared. Naruto blinked.

"Oh," he said, thoughtfully. After a moment, he turned to Sakura.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" he yelled loudly. "IS GAARA FORCING YOU TO HAVE SEX WITH—"

"NO!" she half-squeaked, half-shrieked, looking mortified—mostly because everyone in the restaurant was now staring at them.

Naruto brightened (very oblivious to the open stares). "Oh, okay!" he chirped. "Then what is _it_?"

Silence.

The whole restaurant listened on in anticipation.

Trying to regain her dignity, Sakura glared at all of them.

"Would you _all_ stop looking?! It's none of your business!" she snarled.

Silence.

Hastily, they all averted their eyes (except Lee, Genma, Temari, Kankuro, Naruto and...the Kazekage).

"But Sakura-chan—" Naruto began to whine.

Sakura whirled on him, eyes blazing.

He shut up immediately.

"And that includes you," she snapped in warning.

He solemnly nodded his blond head. Satisfied, Sakura turned to Gaara once more.

"And you know what I mean," she said, her tone firm.

"I—"

"Good day, Kazekage-sama."

And with that, she turned around, and strode off (or rather, stomped off), head held high and dignity coating her like a knight's shining armor.

Naruto stared in wide-eyed amazement. Lee stared with hearts in his eyes. Kankuro looked half-frightened. Temari merely smirked.

Genma stared at her swaying butt.

Noticing that the Kazekage was gazing at him kinda intensely (and coldly), Genma regretfully averted his stare, and, with a sigh, went back to eating his ramen.

Temari kept on smirking.

"That was interesting...wasn't it, Gaara?"

"Hmm." And without further ado, Gaara went back to eating himself. Silently. Soon enough, the others followed suit.

"Sakura-chan is weird," Naruto declared.

"She's the most wonderful and youthful being on the—"

_Bam._

"Oi, Naruto! You just made Lee faint with your hit!" Kankuro admonished.

"He was being pretty loud!" Naruto complained. "HEY, AYAME-SAN! TWO MORE BOWLS PLEASE! AND—"

_Bam!_

_Faint._

Silence.

Genma and Kankuro stared (Gaara was ignoring everything) at the only girl seated beside them.

Temari shrugged.

"What? He was being loud, too."

With a sigh, the four went back to eating.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hey, did you hear the news? The Kazekage-sama and Sakura are having sex."

"Really?? _She_ got him?! I am _so_ jealous!"

"I heard Haruno and he had been at it since..."

"They're supposedly secret lovers and are engaged now..."

"And she's been giving him blowjobs and..."

"Oh, I would _love_ to give him a blowjob! To put my tongue in..."

Face flaming, insides squirming, Sakura tried to be as invisible as possible, and to just get through the darn day—and to just stop hearing the whispers and speculations and gossip _everywhere._

Because seriously...this was all _her_ fault.

Why, oh why, did she have to confront him there, of all places?

_Yeah, you're stupid._

"Shut up," she muttered.

"And I heard he was totally fucking her from behind..."

_Ooh, that sounds hot..._

Walking faster, and glaring at the floor and anyone who ever crossed her path (which was nada, considering she was doing great pains in avoiding them all purposely), she vowed to never, ever do something so stupid again.

She has had enough of hearing about her doing him sexual favors.

Or about hot he was.

Or about how they wanted it to be _them _in her place instead.

Jealous bitches.

_Oh, you just want to give him a blo—_

"Shut up!" she snarled to her inner.

Scowling now, she stalked rather violently, and went for the nearest available door—in this case, the hospital's medicinal scrolls stockroom. Without further ado, she yanked it open, and went inside the neat, closet-sized room, being careful to not close the door fully (because unfortunately, the inner knob was dysfunctional—she wasn't exactly frustrated enough not to notice that). She leaned on a cabinet, and closed her eyes.

Calm down, breathe. Rumors go away. Really. Hadn't she had enough rumors in the past? She'd dealt with them, in her own dignified way. She could deal with this one, too. Piece of cake, honestly. Now all she had to do was stay calm, ignore the talk, and go do her job and—

"Sakura."

—avoid him at all costs.

_Click._

Her eyes flew open. In an instant, she was whirling around, and staring in shock. Her gaze went to the door.

Oh, hell no.

She flew towards it (if one could in such a small space), grabbing the knob, twisting and turning with all her strength...and naturally, nothing happened, because the knob was _broken._

Desperately, she banged loudly, and with all her non-chakra might.

_Bam! Bam! Bam!_

"Open up! Can anyone hear me?!"

_Bam! Bam! Bam!_

"OPEN UP! Anybody, hello?!"

Silence.

Furiously, she whirled back, and pointed her forefinger.

Then she hissed, and sputtered.

"You!"

"...me," he agreed.

"I can't believe—you—it's—you locked us in!"

A pause.

"I didn't."

"You did!" she shrieked. "The door automatically locked!"

Another pause.

"There's a doorknob."

"It's broken!" she yelled. "Which was why I didn't close it!"

_Another _pause. Then he nodded his head, and summoned chakra into his hand, and—

She screamed. Loud and shrill and fully.

"NO! Don't you dare do that! She will _kill_ me if that door so much as cracks!"

She, of course, being none other than her mentor.

Silence.

"Why do you have weak facilities?"

Sakura nearly screamed in frustration. Instead, she opted for a glare, and a sigh of exasperation, before reluctantly giving up.

He was _hopeless_.

"Oh, save it! I'm sure your precious Suna has broken things, too!"

Not wanting to argue any further (because she was going to end up hitting something if this ensued), she got away from the door, squeezing past him (no, he does _not_ feel good!) and ignoring him as she did so. She proceeded to unceremoniously sit on the smallest cabinet, and cross her arms in a huff.

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Si—

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she blurted out, unable to help herself. She eyed him suspiciously. Inner Sakura cheered, and began to list the reasons (more along the lines of him wanting to ravish her). Her eyes narrowed, prepared to hear the word _mate_—and prepared to punch the lights out of him if he ever so much as—

"Hokage-sama sent for you."

She blinked.

Oh.

Inner Sakura deflated—and proceeded moaning in despair.

Outer Sakura remained painfully silent.

With a nod, and obviously sensing her bad mood, Gaara crossed his arms, leaned on the door, closed his eyes and didn't say another word.

Sakura did the same.

Silence.

Silence.

...silence.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

One hour later, they still remained stuck.

_BAM! BAM! BAM!_

"You people are idiots! Deaf idiots who can't even hear the sound of distress!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

One more hour later, the light bulb flickered off, leaving them in darkness.

Damn Konoha facilities.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Yet another hour later...

"...Gaara?"

Silence.

Then...

"Hmm...?"

"...I'm hungry."

A pause.

"Hmm."

With a sigh, she rolled her eyes in the dark, and glared in the direction where his voice had come from.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"..."

"Or bored?"

"..."

"Do you want to get stuck in here forever?"

"No."

The last answer was blunt, and she blinked. Sighing once more, she gave up talking to him, and went back to folding her arms, closing her eyes, and—

"Why is it not going to happen?"

Her eyes snapped open—though it didn't really make much difference, considering there was _nothing _to see.

"I beg your pardon?" she blurted out.

A pause.

"Why don't you want it?"

Realizing what he was suddenly talking about, Sakura turned slightly red. Then, realizing something else, the blush vanished, only to be replaced by another glare.

"You _knew_!" she accused loudly. "You knew what I was talking about earlier and—and—you still pretended to play dumb!"

Another pause.

"I don't play dumb."

"You don't, my ass," she muttered.

"Why don't—"

"And to answer your question," she interrupted, "I am _not_ that kind of girl. I—don't..._mate_ people randomly." She blushed at the word again, but didn't really cover it up, because really—it wasn't like he or anyone else could see it.

When he made no reply, she thought (in quiet and huge relief) that he was finally letting the subject go.

...she was wrong.

"I'm not random," he murmured—right in front of her.

She jumped back, and bit back a squeak, as she heard how near his voice had suddenly become. Kami..._when_ did he move?

She began backing away, and stammering slightly. "I—I never said—"

"You were implying," he whispered.

She shivered at his husky, husky voice, and didn't speak. Not because she didn't know what to say, but because he was standing near and there was little space and—

"You're cold." Still husky.

All of a sudden, the voice was practically near her ear. Unable to help it, a shiver ran again, through her spine.

She began to panic.

"I—no—I'm not cold—"

Remembering _exactly_ what happened, three years ago, when they were stuck in a dark place, in the cold.

Body heat.

Hot kisses.

Warm, warm hands.

_Everywhere._

Her breath hitched, at the images.

He caught on to the sound.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she muttered. In a move intended to get away from him, she hopped silently off the cabinet, and tried to sidestep him in the dark, and stay away and—

_Thud._

She had bumped into the large, tall shelves that stood opposite the door. In an instant, scrolls began falling all over her, in mountains.

"Oh, for the love of—"

Before she could finish her curse, hands were suddenly pulling her away—and placing her back on a sitting position on the little cabinet...with him right in between her legs. His hands began moving up and down her arm.

"Are you okay?" he repeated, in a quiet, quiet voice.

"I...I'm fine," she whispered. His one hand moved from her arm, to stroke her hair. Her cheek. Her neck.

"You're cold," he said once more, his breath directly on her ear now. Her green eyes clouded, her senses heightened. Heat began gathering in her belly.

He put his mouth on said ear.

She put her hands on his chest, intending to push him away.

He kissed her ear, and licked.

...she gripped his clothes.

"Do you not want this?" His kiss trailed down, to her jaw. Her throat. His hand that had been on her arm trailed down, down, under her shirt, through her strapless bra, and...he flicked a hardened, aroused nipple. She whimpered quietly, and moaned quietly, and prayed that he wouldn't hear it, and—

His hand pulled the bra down—and said hand began cupping her breast. Moving...touching.

Her eyes rolled back in pleasure, and she fisted her hands and bit her lip hard to stop her body from vibrating.

Inner Sakura had long ago orgasmed, in a wild burst of ecstasy.

"I can smell you," he rasped. "You smell of lust."

"I—you—"

His thumb rolled over a nipple.

She moaned, so softly.

And then, without warning, his mouth was on hers.

Diving in. Plunging. Tasting her, and making her feel electricity all over. She moaned into his mouth, and moaned into his hand, and let the feeling take her and consume her and—

He pulled away.

"You don't want this. I'm sorry. I got carried away."

And then...he was moving away.

Stunned to the core, still aroused as hell, still tingling and heating up and _sizzling _all over, she did the only thing possible, the only thing she could think of at the moment.

"I hate you."

She jumped off the cabinet, and yanked him closer, and whirled him back around. She jumped him, hands on his hair, legs wrapped around his waist.

Then she proceeded to thoroughly, uninhibitedly kiss him.

With lips and tongue and teeth.

...and there was no more room for thought.

The suddenness took them to the door, his back bumping into it. He gave a muffled sound—she ignored it, and kept on kissing him, kept on moving against him. He was warm, and solid, and she could feel him, she could feel him all over. His hands began to glide below her legs, to steady them. Began to glide upwards, to caress.

His mouth began to kiss. Her. Back.

Inner Sakura had fainted in utter delirium.

Outer Sakura was moaning, as his hand reached under her skirt, and began to touch her thighs, and his tongue and teeth came out and—

_Click._

The door opened.

_Thud._

In an instant, they were both on the floor, the light blinding their eyes, the impact a bit painful, though her not by much, because he had somewhat cushioned her fall. She was on top of him—and his hands were _still _under her skirt.

She had a pretty good idea what had happened, to say the least.

Especially after hearing a sudden familiar voice ringing through the air with so much shock and disbelief.

"SAKURA-CHAN! YOU REALLY ARE HAVING SEX WITH HIM!"

...oh, hell_._

_Way_ to go in proving the rumors wrong.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**Plan Status: **_Failed._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_**a/n**: Lol, I had so much fun writing this! I hope you guys have fun reading this as well._

_And yeah, I'm glad the plagiarizer is gone once more. I hope she'll be gone from her plagiarizing ways for _**good. **_(Again, thanks to those who helped report her! You guys are great!)_

_Reviews are appreciated! :)_


	5. Plan 5

_**Best Laid Plans**_

(when dealing with the Kazekage of Suna)

**Plan 5:**

_Don't get challenged._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It didn't look like Gaara had any plans of moving—except for his hand, of course. At the moment, said hand was _still_ moving, fingers brushing under the skirt, on her skin softly, sending shivers down her spine and a certain wetness down her—

"SAKURA-CHAN! YOU LIED TO ME!"

The sound of the loud voice was like a splash of cold water to her system. Abruptly, Sakura disentangled, and shot up from her sprawled position, immediately smoothing down her skirt and her hair and every inch of her clothes. She knew she was blushing, and it wasn't exactly helping her case. From beside her, she felt a shift, signaling that _he_ stood up as well.

She ignored him, and turned her attention to the now-hurt-looking blond.

"I _didn't _lie to you," Sakura stated firmly.

Naruto looked at her as if she was insane.

"BUT YOU HAD SEX WITH—OWW! SAKURA-CHAN!"

Glaring now, the pink-haired kunoichi put a threatening fist in the air, and dared the blond to repeat the sentence—he wasn't exactly an idiot, because he kept his mouth shut now, and just went on rubbing his slightly-bruised head.

"I did _not_ have sex with him," she growled.

Silence.

Based on the stares, it seemed that nobody was willing to believe her.

"I didn't!" Sakura insisted, hands in the air in frustration. It didn't exactly help that her body was still tingling, and her blood was still roaring, and her insides were still craving that sensual touch on—

Her thoughts were interrupted when Naruto spoke again.

But not to her.

"YOU!" He yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Gaara. His blue eyes narrowed. "WHAT ARE YOUR INTENTIONS ON SAKURA-CHAN?"

Silence.

Sakura opened her mouth.

Gaara cut her off.

"I intend to mate her."

Naruto's eyes bulged.

Sakura flushed.

Gaara folded his arms calmly, as if he never said the statement at all.

Trying not to be embarrassed (and to ignore inner Sakura's squeal of glee), Sakura whipped her head in the red-haired Kazekage's direction, and glared.

Or tried to.

"Stop it with that word," she hissed.

"...what word?"

"And stop playing dumb!" she shrieked. "I don't like it and—"

"Do you not want to mate?"

"It's not that—er, I mean..." Mortified, Sakura realized she did not know what to say.

_Cha! Just go jump him and eat him and—_

"SAKURA-CHAN?!"

"Naruto, stop yelling!" Sakura pleaded, rubbing her own head. She stopped, however, when her green eyes locked with another pair of green.

"Do you not want my hands?" Gaara asked, his voice soft and blunt.

_Yes. Touch me!_

"I—you—well..." she stuttered.

"Or my kiss?" He inched closer, eyes focused on hers. Her breath hitched.

"I—it's..."

_Yes. Kiss me. Kiss me good—_

"HEY! STOP GIVING HER LUSTY STARES!"

In an instant, she was snatched out of her reverie—literally. Naruto was holding on to her arm, and making gagging noises as he did so.

"YOU GIVE ME HORRIBLE IMAGES! EW, EW, EW!"

"Naruto, stop—"

Ignoring Sakura, the blond-haired loudmouth turned to Gaara again, and gave him the biggest glare yet—though with the now-pale face, it wasn't quite effective.

"YOU! ME! TRAINING GROUNDS TODAY! I WILL BEAT YOUR SORRY—OWW!"

"Naruto! STOP YELLING!" Sakura hissed. "We're in the hospital, for Kami's sake!" By now, a lot of people had gone to where the commotion was—most of them the so-called gossipers—and were staring at the unfolding events. It was probably a good thing the Hokage herself wasn't there...yet.

She was _so _gonna be in trouble for this.

Embarrassed beyond belief, Sakura decided the best thing was to back off for a moment—and so she grabbed the loudmouth by his shirt, and proceeded to drag him off towards...well, anywhere but here.

He complied. But not before stopping for a moment, and turning back to Gaara again.

Everyone looked on in anticipation.

"It starts with a date first!" Naruto declares.

Silence.

Unable to look anyone in the eye now, Sakura pulled Naruto harder, and stalked off, and—

"Sakura."

He finally spoke again.

She flushed, and tried not to let his low, calm voice affect her.

"Gaara, maybe la—"

"Will you date me?"

She froze. Turned around. Stared.

Then...

"OI! GAARA! I DIDN'T MEAN _NOW!_ NOW WE SPAR! NOW I WILL PUMMEL YOU TO DIRT AND BEAT YOUR SORRY ASS INTO—BAA-CHAN! LET ME GO! OW, OW, OW!"

And the Hokage appeared, in all her feminine glory.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO! My office! Now! That is no way to treat the Kazekage!"

"BUT BAA-CHAN, HE STARTED—OWW! Alright, alright! Don't be hasty!"

Naruto calmed down eventually, as Tsunade's one hand gripped his hair (quite firmly), and the other put up a threatening fist to everyone.

"Get back to your jobs, you gossip-mongrels!" she barked.

In an instant, everyone was suddenly scurrying off, frantic to get away from the Hokage's obvious wrath. Sakura, trying to be conspicuous, did the same, and was already tiptoeing backwards and into the safety of somewhere else—

"Sakura, where do you think you're going?"

She nearly jumped, but instead flushed, and turned to Tsunade with a seemingly innocent expression on her face.

"Oh, shishou! Hi! You see, I was just on my way to the—um—patient's room to check on his condition—"

"Which patient?"

She blinked. Panicked. "Er. Mister...Telakuvaki! Yes—him!" she chirped.

At this, Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "He was discharged last week, Sakura."

Sakura flushed again, and opened her mouth hurriedly. But before she could speak, Tsunade waved a hand, and immediately cut her off.

"No matter. Now that you're here, I'll give you your task, then—the Kazekage is staying for another week, so I'm appointing you as his guide once more."

Sakura stared.

Gaara remained calm.

...Naruto went wild.

"NO! NO! THAT MEANS THEY'LL BE HAVING SEX AGAIN AND AGAIN! SHE MIGHT HAVE BABIES!"

Tsunade froze.

Sakura froze.

But before anyone could really react, a whip of sand whizzed by.

And Gaara and Sakura disappeared in a flash.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The unexpectedness of the happening had Sakura coughing, and her head spinning in circles—she blinked, and tried to clear her eyes, and tried to grip onto something to keep her balance. When the spinning stopped, she blinked a few more times, and stared at whatever it was she was gripping.

"Sakura."

For the nth time that day, she found herself staring into mesmerizing jade eyes.

"Yes?" she murmured, breathless.

She gripped his shoulder tighter, and her lips unconsciously parted when his face came closer.

Then his mouth moved to her ear.

"Tonight. Eight. I'll be there."

He kissed her earlobe, delicately.

She shivered, and wished it was her mouth he kissed.

Then he suddenly vanished with a poof—leaving her all alone in the empty hospital room he had taken her in. Probably to go do his Kazekage duties.

And confuse her further.

With a sigh, Sakura sat on the hospital bed, and rubbed her forehead vigorously.

How on heavens was she going to explain all this to her mentor?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto had made up quite a fuss before allowing the Hokage to throw him out—with multiple bruises on the face, of course. He supposed that was a given, considering who he had just defied—she really did have a mean temper, especially when deprived of her early-morning drinking spree as she was now.

But really...why couldn't anyone but him see the seriousness of this situation?

Wincing and rubbing his head, Naruto stalked to the nearest training grounds, to vent and train and—

"Naruto."

He blinked.

Standing in the middle of the training grounds was none other than Gaara himself.

Naruto snarled, out of reflex. "YOU! WHERE'S SAKURA-CHAN?! WHY HER? LET'S SPAR—"

"Would you like some ramen?"

Naruto blinked. Then his mouth gaped open—also out of reflex.

"What?"

"Ramen," Gaara intoned calmly, coming closer. Naruto blinked some more, then went on to stare suspiciously at the other.

"Then we will talk about Sakura-chan and your intentions," he snarled again, glaring.

Gaara nodded.

"And no more sex in the closet," Naruto warned menacingly.

Gaara nodded.

The blond loudmouth stared more suspiciously.

"...your treat?"

A pause.

Then...

"Of course. As many bowls as you like."

Naruto brightened. Then he grinned.

"Sure!" he chirped, rubbing his hands together—there were practically little ramen hearts dancing in his blue eyes. He raised a fist in the air. "What are we waiting for? LET'S GO, GAARA!"

Without further ado, Naruto dragged the other to Ichiraku, with only two goals in mind.

First, unlimited ramen.

Then, Sakura-chan.

Gaara better be prepared with his answers.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It was seven in the evening by the time Sakura managed to drag herself home—after all, just because she was assigned as the Kazekage's guide didn't mean she was already allowed to shirk her duties in the hospital. No siree.

It gave her something to do, at least.

She showered, toweled, combed her hair, got dressed—all the while still unsure whether she should be going on this date or not. It was stupid. It was irrational. It was just hormones and gossip and—

_Tap, tap, tap._

The door.

Sakura looked at herself one more time, before finally going down (flying, more like) with one intention in mind. She opened the door, and got down to business.

"We need to set some rules—oh."

"Sakura."

"Sasuke-kun."

Sakura stared at her teammate standing on the door for a few seconds, before brightening up and giving him a warm smile.

"You're back!" she chirped. "How was your mission? Did it go well? I know it was only a day, but how was—oh-my-Kami-you-are-hurt!"

In an instant, her smile had become a very worried frown, as she ushered him inside and practically pulled him into her sofa. Once he was seated there, she hovered over him, her green chakra present in her hands. She fluttered said hands on his injured shoulder, and steadied it.

"I'm okay, Sakura," he murmured quietly—but he did let her heal him.

"You don't _look_ fine," she insisted.

"It's just a scratch," he said. His onyx eyes were fixed on the flowing chakra, watching as it stitched up his wounds in a slow and careful process. Once it was over, and the wound was closed, said onyx eyes trailed to gaze at her.

She beamed at him.

He kept on gazing.

"What's this I hear about you and that sand nin having sex?"

She flushed.

He waited.

Finally, she cleared her throat. "Whatever you heard, it's a crazy exaggeration."

"Every single day?"

"I _told_ you, it's—"

"The last one in the hospital closet, going at it like rabbits?"

Sakura shut her mouth, and promptly flushed darker.

"Not like rabbits," she muttered, in a barely audible voice.

A black eyebrow rose in silence, above an unreadable expression.

"It was an accident," she said defensively, folding her arms and stammering slightly.

Silence.

"Stop looking at me like that!" she nearly yelled out. "It—it's just sex!" Then, realizing what she just said, she averted her eyes, and proceeded to fuss with her clothes needlessly.

"Did he say that?" Sasuke asked quietly. To Sakura's surprise, his voice had slightly taken on a tone of danger, before going blank again. She stood up, and went to the kitchen. He followed.

"Erm...no. Not exactly."

_Let's mate soon._

More like not really.

Silence.

"I don't approve."

Sakura whipped her head back at him in shock.

"What?"

"Kakashi wouldn't, too. And the dobe."

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you forbidding me?"

His eyes narrowed back, slightly. "We're your teammates. We know what's best for you."

It was uncharacteristic of him to speak so many sentences in one go—very unSasuke-like, to be honest. He was always a man of few words, and that had been that, no matter what.

Her eyes flared in irritation.

"_I _know what's best for me, thank you very much," she scoffed.

"Not likely," he scoffed back.

Her head lifted up.

"It's none of your business."

"Like hell it isn't."

Her temper rose. "Why, you arrogant—"

_Tap, tap, tap._

Her words stopped. Her eyes went to the door, then back to Sasuke. She glared.

"Don't you even dare make a scene."

"I forbid you to go."

And then, like a fuse, her temper exploded.

"You can't stop me," she snarled.

Without further ado, Sakura stalked out of the kitchen (she didn't even _know_ why had gone there to begin with), and into the living room, her steps quick and full of energy. Her mouth was still formed into a snarl, as she fisted her hands, and kept on stalking. Maybe she was being delirious, maybe she was being crazy. It didn't matter. Her vision turning red, she yanked the door open.

Then she determinedly pulled the person standing there inside.

And she proceeded to put her mouth on his.

_Take that, you meddling teammates._

She could feel his lips on hers, not moving. She could feel his chakra, no matter how subtle it was, how cloaked. She could feel her raven-haired teammate's chakra somewhere behind her, probably near, probably far. She didn't really care. All she cared about was proving her point, because she was a big girl now—they didn't have the right to tell her what to do, or what not to do, or—

His lips moved.

And suddenly, in the blink of an eye, every thought flew out of her head.

The red haze vanished, only to be replaced by a different kind of haze altogether.

The _hot_, churning kind.

She was backed into something solid, his hands moving. Touching. Sparks flew into her system—her knees weakened, turned to jelly. His tongue came out to taste, to fill her with something deep, something she had never expected.

His body began to move.

On a frenzy, Sakura let out a soft moan, her teeth pulling at his lips—his hungry mouth, his gentle tongue. Her hands went wild, and proceeded to grip on to his shirt. To glide down, under. Dimly, she began to realize he wasn't wearing his robe, because she could finally put her hands inside, and touch.

His skin was warm, so warm—all smooth and sleek, his muscles hard and mouthwatering.

She touched harder, faster, her fingers unable to stop.

She felt his stomach tremble, and suddenly, suddenly wanted to put her lips there. To taste.

She heard his sharp intake of breath, and his stilling.

In an instant, and with one final nip on her lower lip, he pulled away, and rested his mouth on the crook of her neck.

She called out his name, and tried to get her senses in order.

"Gaara..."

"Sakura." His voice was low. Hot.

"...what do you want?"

Silence.

"To mate," he said.

She nodded her head, understanding. It was what he always wanted, right? It was what she wanted...right?

"Okay," she whispered, her hands starting to move again. "Okay. Now—"

Then he did the most surprising thing of all.

Gaara kissed her again—with no frenzy now, only gentle, sensual persuasion.

It was she who trembled now.

"...but not now. Not before one thing," she heard him say.

Her incoherent mind tried to catch up.

"W—what?"

A pause.

"You need to fall in love with me first," he stated.

Her eyes widened. Her racing heart stopped.

Her hands stilled.

"And I will make you," he murmured. His fingers moved along her skin, feather-light. Her insides heated abruptly.

Then, in an instant, he was moving away, nodding to someone as he did so.

Somehow, Sakura forgot who it was.

"Uchiha."

"...Kazekage."

He turned to her once more, his jade eyes pinning her frozen.

"Goodnight," he intoned, voice soft. "Tomorrow. Afternoon. You need to rest now."

And then he was gone, out of the door again, leaving her gaping, and trying to process _everything._

Silence.

A few seconds later, she willed herself away from the wall, and willed the images away from her head. She willed the tingles away, too—or at least, tried to.

She sat on the couch. Took a deep breath.

Then she looked up, and stared at the room's other occupant.

"He...cancelled."

"Hn."

"...why?"

"Because you need rest, as he says."

She huffed, and tried to glare.

Silence.

She folded her arms, and fumed. "Well...did you see that? Did you see what he did? What he—he said? Of all the strangest, most arrogant things to say—he's even more arrogant than you, Sasuke-kun! I—it's—you—unbelievable! It's—preposterous—delirious—illogical—"

"Sakura?"

She stopped her rambling, and prepared herself to tell him that he was right, she should not even consider it anymore, and—

"It's okay now."

...what?

"I'll tell the others not to kill him."

And then, with a nod, Uchiha Sasuke was out the door, closing it gently as he did so.

Sakura stared. Stood up from the couch. Sat back again.

Sighed.

All the while, she only thought of three things.

First, she was _not _going to fall in love with him. Ever.

Second, boys were weird.

And third...she needed a cold shower.

A really, _really _cold one. Now.

Damn stupid hormones.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**Plan Status: **_Failed._

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_**a/n**: I'm back! Heh, just like I said. I'll keep writing now. Anyway...see you til' next chapter. Happy reading, and review if you can. :)_


End file.
